Minghe's heart stirred for a fleeting moment, but he reigned in his impulses with practiced ease. He cast a sneering glance at the East King Duke and asked coldly, "Even if we successfully slaughter Kunpeng, there remains only a single strand of Primordial Violet Qi. How, exactly, should such a prize be distributed?"
The East King Duke did not hesitate, his face settling into an expression of utmost gravity. "When that moment comes, how about we simply each rely upon our own abilities?"
He spoke with a blunt frankness, his gaze direct and devoid of any immediate intention to play shadow-games.
Minghe hesitated for a heartbeat, remaining silent; it was a tacit agreement born of supreme confidence. In terms of raw combat strength, he was certain he could suppress the East King Duke whenever necessary.
"Fellow Daoist Minghe, the priority at this moment is to join our forces and seize control of the Three Immortals Island!"
The East King Duke pressed his advantage, seizing the opportunity to firmly anchor Minghe to his side.
Minghe paused, then spoke with a casual air, "Although there is nothing upon these Three Immortals Islands that truly attracts my interest, I suppose I can lend you a hand."
His obsession was now fixed solely upon the Primordial Violet Qi; he found himself caring very little for other external possessions or worldly trinkets.
The East King Duke nodded, a sense of renewed confidence welling up within his chest spontaneously.
At that precise moment, the entirety of the Three Immortals Island began to shake with a violent, rhythmic tremor. From the absolute center of Penglai Immortal Island, a massive, surging geyser of Chaos Qi erupted, plunging straight upward into the endless reaches of deep space.
Within this pillar of Chaos Qi—which stood as firm and immovable as a heavenly column—a cluster of chaotic spiritual light began to rise slowly. It was a Magic Treasure, its mere presence projecting radiant light and manifesting the hidden secrets of the heavens as endless starlight began to fall from the Nine Heavens above.
Fragrant flowers formed of the Great Dao Laws began to dance across the sky, circling incessantly in a celestial orbit around Penglai Immortal Island.
"Is this... an Innate Supreme Treasure? Or perhaps a Chaos Spirit Treasure?"
The East King Duke blurted out the words, his face a mask of pure shock, his eyes betraying an excited and covetous light that he could no longer hide.
The Three Immortals Island had been birthed from the fragments of primordial Chaos, so it was logically sound that a Chaos Spirit Treasure might be gestating within its womb.
Beside him, Old Ancestor Minghe stood utterly dumbfounded. He had only just finished declaring that the Three Immortals Island held nothing worthy of his attention, and then this appeared.
In that instant, every living being across the three immortal islands ceased their activities. They all looked upward, their gazes fixed upon the divine object floating in the sky above Penglai.
The object was shrouded in a dense, roiling shroud of Chaos Spiritual Qi. Although its true form remained obscured, anyone with a discerning eye could sense it was a supreme treasure—one that far surpassed the grade of a Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasure.
Yet, its exact rank remained difficult to judge amidst the overwhelming radiance.
"What a magnificent treasure. I feel a profound sense of bloodline connection; surely, this item is fated with our Western lands."
In a secluded corner of Yingzhou Immortal Island, Zhun Ti gazed at the sky above Penglai, his voice thick with a deep, aching longing.
"I suspect this treasure is either a true Innate Supreme Treasure or a Chaos Spirit Treasure. Our West is precisely in need of such a Magic Treasure to suppress and stabilize our Luck!"
Jie Yin spoke with a rare, visible flicker of excitement dancing in his eyes.
"Presently, the Three Pure Ones all possess Innate Supreme Treasures—two of which can be used to anchor their Luck—while we in the West possess none. By that measure, this Magic Treasure rightfully ought to belong to our West..."
"This treasure can serve as the ultimate clan-stabilizing treasure of the Yao Race," Nuwa said, her expression turning profoundly solemn.
"This treasure carries an air of supreme auspiciousness and profound Luck; it is of vital importance to the future of our Yao Race. It must be obtained!" Bai Ze felt a sudden, sharp premonition and spoke with uncharacteristic fervor.
The Ancestral Witches, who had been locked in combat with them, also ground to a halt. Looking toward the Magic Treasure suspended in the Void Realm, Qiang Liang shouted at the top of his lungs, "A fine treasure! Let us snatch it back and hang it as a trophy at the entrance of our divine temple!"
"That's right! Hanging it at the base of Mount Buzhou would be just as fine. In any case, we cannot allow the Yao Race to lay a finger on it. We shall seize it and let them choke on their own rage!" Gonggong echoed with a booming laugh, making no effort to conceal his intent.
The faces of the Yao Race experts turned a sickly shade of green with fury.
This group of brutes who do not even possess the soul-force to wield Magic Treasures—they still dare to covet such a supreme object?
Laozi, standing upon the soil of Penglai Immortal Island itself, possessed the clearest perception of the treasure's weight. In his view, even though it was wrapped in chaotic light, the vast, primordial pressure it radiated was undeniable.
"This treasure must be ours!"
Laozi's entire being began to emit a powerful, suffocating Aura. He immediately sent a Divine Thought transmission to Yuanshi and Tongtian, commanding them to temporarily abandon their current duels and rush to Penglai so they might seize the treasure as a unified front.
With the Three Pure Ones joining their might, let alone on these islands, they would struggle to find a single worthy opponent in the entire Honghuang World.
This treasure, in his mind, was already an inheritance of the Sanqing.
Upon Yingzhou and Fangzhang, Yuanshi and Tongtian received their eldest brother's call. They immediately turned their backs on Dijun and Tai Yi, stepping through the Void Realm to race toward Penglai.
This sudden shift caused the expressions of many powerful cultivators to pale. Seeing the Sanqing's determined stance, it was clear they would stop at nothing; who could possibly block their path when the three of them stood as one?
Moments later, Dijun and Tai Yi also took to the sky, flying toward Penglai at maximum speed to regroup with Ling Xiao.
At that time, in another part of the island, Ling Xiao was observing the Magic Treasure in the Void Realm with a look of genuine interest.
He had not truly expected such a profound treasure to be birthed here. That vast, churning chaotic light suggested something as high as a Chaos Spirit Treasure.
Just as he extended his Divine Thought to probe the object, the cluster of spiritual light within the Chaos pillar suddenly erupted with a blinding, celestial brilliance. It was like the first dawn after the creation of heaven and earth, illuminating every corner of the world.
The flowers of the Great Dao bloomed in unison, and the very fabric of heaven and earth began to vibrate; the air was filled with the rhythmic sounds of Law collisions.
"Ah... this treasure belongs to me!" One mighty expert, unable to restrain his greed a moment longer, transformed into a streak of light and charged toward the treasure.
"Presumptuous!"
"Such audacity!"
Shouts of fury rang out from every direction. In a single instant, dozens of high-level attacks swept through the air with overwhelming force to annihilate the intruder.
The expert managed to reach the treasure's perimeter, only to be violently repelled by an invisible, absolute force. In his moment of weakness, the dozens of incoming attacks struck simultaneously, reducing him to nothingness before he could even scream.
"A divine object has been born; it naturally belongs to the one who shares a predestined fate with it."
The Two Sages of the West arrived at the edge of Penglai, halos of light shimmering behind their heads as they trod upon a golden path of radiance. They spoke of "fate," yet they did not move an inch.
In this moment, everyone knew: the first one to strike would be the first to die, as they would become the target for every other soul on the island.
The atmosphere became so tense it felt as though the air itself might shatter.
"Haha... if no one else has the courage to claim it, then I shall gladly accept the burden!" A world-shaking voice boomed. From the Void Realm above, a massive, spectral hand reached down, clawing straight for the divine object.
"You are looking for death!"
The fuse was lit. The gathered mighty ones could no longer hold back their impulses and charged forward like a swarm of moths plunging into a flame.
The combined Aura of over ten thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortals was a force of nature—it was enough to nearly capsize the entire East Sea.
This was a high-stakes gamble between the world's elite. Those below the rank of Grand Unity Golden Immortal didn't even dare to look up; they were filled with desire but lacked the power to back it, knowing that to even reach for the treasure was to court instant death.
Boom!
It sounded as if heaven and earth were being sliced open, the Great Dao itself being torn at the seams. Divine Ability Laws, Magic Treasures, and raw essence collided in a constant, surging storm of annihilation, creating a spectacle of pure terror.
For a time, Penglai Immortal Island became the epicenter of total destruction, with blinding, prismatic radiance raging in every direction.
All the mighty ones struggled to push their way forward through the carnage. The East King Duke and the Queen Mother of the West moved as a single unit, leading their host of immortals. Bolstered by Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasures, they found very few who could match their advance.
The Yao Race contingent was a ferocious, overwhelming wave; their sheer numbers allowed them to dominate the periphery of the battlefield.
The six Ancestral Witches refused to be outdone. Their bodies, standing as tall as heavenly pillars, rose from the East Sea. Striking from their high vantage point, they pulverized everything in their path with every casual swing of their limbs.
Yet, the fiercest among them were the Three Pure Ones. Once their Innate Supreme Treasures were cast into the sky, they stood as an invincible bastion of power.
It was a massive, bloody free-for-all. Every expert was burning their essence, using every secret technique at their disposal.
To not give one's absolute all to snatch a Magic Treasure of this magnitude would be to invite the retribution of the heavens for one's cowardice.
Ling Xiao, Dijun, and Tai Yi finally made their move. They sacrificed their own Magic Treasures, transforming into three magnificent, scorching suns that descended directly into the heart of the battlefield. The overwhelming golden light of their arrival knocked away dozens of contenders in an instant.
Their entry into the fray immediately drew the side-long, murderous glances of every major powerhouse present.